Saturday, January 28, 2012

The Single Moment

Borges states, "Every destiny, however long and complicated, essentially boils down to a single moment — the moment when a man knows, once and for all, who he is."

In a few weeks, I'll begin to teach memoir writing again, and I'm asking myself and my students if the statement rings true. Can we remember falling upon our own identities in a single moment?

I know it sounds silly, but I remember the single moment when I looked out my front door and longed to be part of a neighborhood. I remember calling people I didn't really know to invite parents and their children to ride bikes and jump rope in the front yard.

In that moment, I felt a calling: I was to devote myself to building a neighborhood.

About Me

In my writing classes, we talk about writing with flair, but lately I've been interested in what it means to live with flair. Can I find a way to make every day impressive and meaningful? Just as a sentence turns into something beautiful with the right verb and punctuation, can I learn to revise my day and punctuate it with flair?

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More about me. . .

I'm a wife and mother of two who teaches college writing. I love writing novels, encouraging teachers, reflecting on spiritual principles in everyday life, drinking tea out of my little blue teapot, petting my cats, exercising, lighting candles, reading grammar books, watching movies and any television show with singing and dancing in it, entertaining, eating leftover Chinese food, and blogging. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.